A chest of tea arriving in colonial America had already passed through many hands: the people who grew and processed the leaves in China, the workers who packed them for export, and the merchants and sailors who carried them overseas.
Months at sea exposed this delicate cargo to damp air, outside odors, shifting loads, and repeated handling. Keeping the leaves dry and preserving their aroma depended on how they were packed inside the chest.
Traveling from China to England, then to America
The tea that colonial Americans drank came from China, but shipments in the British trade generally reached England first. The East India Company dominated Britain’s legal tea imports, bringing the leaves from China for sale in England before a portion continued to the American colonies.
The voyage from China took ships across the Indian Ocean, around Africa’s Cape of Good Hope, and onward to England, a passage that could take about a year. Storage and resale there added to the time between harvest and consumption before another ship carried the cargo across the Atlantic.
Colonial buyers also purchased smuggled tea supplied through Dutch trade, which competed with legal British imports.
Black and Green Teas Shared the Hold
Shipments carried black teas such as Bohea and Congou alongside green teas such as Hyson and Singlo. Merchants bought and sold these teas in varieties and grades that commanded different prices.
An East India Company invoice for tea sent to Boston aboard the Beaver in 1773 records some of those differences. Bohea was listed at two shillings per pound, while Hyson was valued at five shillings, more than twice the price. The ship carried 80 chests of Bohea and just five of Hyson.
Regardless of price, the leaves needed protection. Neither a costly green tea nor an inexpensive black tea benefited from a damp crossing.
Inside a Shipping Chest
A shipping chest’s wooden exterior protected its cargo during loading, unloading, and transport, while a metal lining formed a barrier against moisture and outside air.
Museum accounts describe thin sheets of lead or tin joined inside the wooden box. Once the tea was packed, another metal sheet could be soldered over the contents to complete the enclosure.
The term “tea chest” also described a kind of container used in the home. These smaller, often decorative boxes held separate canisters for storing different varieties. Export chests served a commercial purpose, carrying bulk quantities of tea through months of shipping and storage.
Packing Leaves Into Valuable Cargo Space
Cargo space aboard a merchant ship was limited, so workers packed tea closely to make efficient use of the hold. Accounts of the China trade describe workers shaking green tea into chests to settle the leaves and compressing some lower-grade black teas by treading them down with their feet. [4]
The amount packed into each chest also varied considerably. The Beaver’s 1773 invoice lists 28,625 pounds of Bohea divided among 80 chests, compared with 432 pounds of Congou across five. For this shipment, those figures work out to an average of approximately 358 pounds of Bohea per chest and 86 pounds of Congou. [3]
257 Chests Held in Charleston
Time in storage could extend well beyond the voyage itself. In Charleston, a dispute over the tea duty kept a shipment in the Exchange building for nearly three years.
In early December 1773, the London arrived carrying 257 chests of East India Company tea, predominantly Bohea. Opposition to the duty stalled the shipment’s sale. On December 22, laborers unloaded the chests and moved them into the Exchange.
The tea remained there until 1776, when it was sold to help fund the American revolutionary cause.
New Routes After Independence
Following the Revolutionary War, American merchants began trading directly with China. The Empress of China sailed in 1784, opening direct trade between the newly independent United States and China. American merchants could now bring tea home without first routing it through England.
The records of these voyages preserve details of what Americans drank: the names of the teas, the quantities shipped, and the prices merchants paid. They also provide a starting point for exploring those teas today.
Historical Records Guide Our Selections
At Oliver Pluff, accounts of the East India Company’s tea trade guide our sourcing. We seek teas grown as close as possible to the original locations, working to recreate the flavor profiles familiar to early American tea drinkers.
Bohea and Young Hyson are two places to begin exploring the varieties behind these records.
